Top 10 Reasons to Use A Travel Agent

1. You've Googled "Jamaica vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?

2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?

3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?

4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?

5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.

6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.

7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?

8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.

9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.

10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.

and sorry but one reason not to if only your TA can change your reservation - rather difficult when you are in the midst of the hurricane and everyone needs their TA - we use our sister in law sometimes but book ourselves on the whole

I agree a expert Travel Agent also play key role whenever you are planning for a long vacation ..Planning a trip can be stressful. There are so many options and details to worry about. Travel agents do the work, resulting in less stress for you.

I agree a expert Travel Agent also play key role whenever you are planning for a long vacation ..Planning a trip can be stressful. There are so many options and details to worry about. Travel agents do the work, resulting in less stress for you.

I am an Internet junkie but never travel without using a Travel Agent. It's just nice to know someone is looking out for you. But it has to be a GOOD travel agent. When you find one they are worth their weight in gold.

The best assistance in booking our Couples trips came from Couples themselves. We always book directly through them. Not only do they offer price guarantees and the better trip insurance but also try to answer all questions and concerns completely in an effort to make your trip perfect. If the booking agent you are talking to does not have the answer to your concern they will quickly find it out and get back to you or connect you to someone who does. Any requests or needs will be noted in your files when you arrive. Great service by email and phone!

This post was not meant to be an advertisement for travel agents. I just thought the article was somewhat relevant. The question has been asked quite a few times on this MB as to what value there is in using a travel agent. I have nothing to gain by posting this article Icame across recently. I am not a retail travel agent, just someone that knows firsthand how much a good travel agent can help when booking any kind of travel.

Personally, we prefer to plan and book all of our own vacations, hotels, etc. We've never used a travel agent and have never been disappointed with anything that we've booked. We book everything online using travel sites and do all the research ourselves and enjoy doing so. I personally really enjoy reading all about the places we visit and where we'll be staying, it makes our trips much more exciting. And as a result of booking everything ourselves, if there's ever a problem we know how to deal with it and we're well aware of our options.

We always used to book online until we had to book for a large group. At the last minute one of the group was not able to make it and our travel agent was able to change the tickets to allow some-one else to take the trip instead! Try doing that yourself on a Sunday evening for a Monday morning departure!
Now we always use our travel agent.

Not sure how this relates to Couples especially when the staff at the sales office are so helpful. We booked our flights direct and our accommodation directly through couples for a last minute Christmas break and got a far cheaper deal than any agent could offer us and flights at the times we wanted them...also I didn't get any harassing calls and emails from Couples whilst I was finalising my choice... shame the same couldn't be said about the agents!

You can book yourself and along with good travel insurance to cover you in the case of that snowstorm etc you are fine... with Couples you don't need to think about anything else as the transfers and everything else is sorted for you!

It's personal preference obviously but I don't think we need it rammed down our throats how wonderful travel agents are...we are on here to learn and share about Couples?! Some agents I'm sure are very good but so is booking with Couples direct and shopping around for the best flights!

I really don't see much of a point to a Travel Agent. With all the resources on the internet you can pretty much do it all yourself. The only time I have used one is when I went to AAA and used the agent that was included in my membership. With a little time you can really take care of all of it yourself. So many good travel websites out there, just seems like a waste to use a TA.

Do a little research before hand and book directly with resorts and airlines . Save yourself time and money . For excursions I do the samething .

You save yourself neither time nor money....if you EVER pay more through a travel agent....then get yourself a new travel agent.
Also (I don't know if this applies to Couples) but when you purchase your insurance FROM the supplier they will sometimes (In the very small print) relieve themselves of ANY liability.

Geez people, lighten up! There is absolutely no reason to jump all over someone who is simply starting a discussion about the use of travel agents. Since we are all vacationers, it IS a relevant discussion. She is not promoting herself or ramming anything down anyone's throats.

Anyway, I personally believe that travel agents can be extremely helpful, especially for planning your vacation to an unfamiliar destination your first time. They get paid from the airlines and the resorts, not from their clients, so it doesn't cost you any more money to use them. Sure you can be a do-it-yourselfer, but you never really know what to believe on the internet. As someone who has been involved in both home remodeling and tax preparation, I've seen the mess that some DIYers have made for themselves. With their knowledge on the up-to-date status of vacation destinations, these travel professionals can provide great recommendations based on your wants and their experiences. With that being said, now that we have our own experience and knowledge of all the Couples resorts, we have booked some of our return visits ourselves.

I have never used a TA. My hubby and I have always just booked on our own. I have found booking directly through Couples the easiest and cheapest (hotel and air). I researched doing it separately (Couples for hotel, other air sites for airfare and also booking through a different website for both) and pricing isn't any cheaper in my experience. At least if you want decent flight times and not stopping multiple times. I'd rather pay a little more to have 1 stop and decent flight times. JMO. When we got married at CSA in 2004, we did it all online and through Couples. Even all the wedding stuff until we got there to go over the details (which took about 30 minutes with the coordinator). At the time, we had a ton of airfare points since my hubby traveled for work frequently so we booked through the airline site for tickets.

If you feel more comfortable booking through a TA, go for it. But you can easily do it on your own. Especially since Couples is so good about contacting you back about details if you need them.

I have to say, my husband and I traveled to CN with friends on December 13th for the first time. We were so excited and I had started the countdown at 200 days. Unfortunately we received notification on the 14th that my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly. We contacted our travel agent right away and we were on the next flight out of Jamaica. This just proved to us that at a time like that we needed someone who could take control and make all the arrangements. Our travel agent was right there for us and took care of everything. The staff at CN was also awesome. Looking forward to going back within the next year to enjoy what was supposed to be an awesome vacation.